Don’t turn in to the Christmas pudding!
The average person will consume twice their normal intake of calories on Christmas day alone and will pile on ½ a stone in weight over the festive period.
If you stop and ask most people if they are happy with their weight the most common response is “No, I’d like to lose ½ a stone”.
How depressing to put on ½ a stone at Christmas – now you have a stone to lose.
Now I’ve got to tell you that I LOVE the treats at Christmas and fully intend to enjoy them. However, I have absolutely no intention of putting on any weight or having a guilt trip. Below I’ll give you my best advice to avoid piling on the pounds this Christmas!
How to maintain your weight over Christmas but still eat cake!
By following these tips, you can maintain your weight and become one of the smug people. You know the ones who go on holiday to an all inclusive resort and do not put on weight! You can now be one of those – hurray!
Some tips you MUST follow
- Do not skip meals – I know you are busy, rushing around trying to get everything done but you simply must eat regularly. There are three main meals in a day!
- Drink water – I can appreciate you are shopping all day and you want to stop for one of those fancy festive coffees and that is fine but you must drink water as well. Take a bottle with you, do not get dehydrated. The easiest way to gain weight is to be dehydrated.
- Plan – It is so easy to focus on the big day that you can forget to organise the days leading up to Christmas and those afterwards. Help is given HERE.
- Eat treats – yes I did say that, eat your treats over several days, the minute you consume an entire box of chocolates in one go you are doomed. Don’t save everything up for Christmas day, savour your treats. The better the quality of your treats the better they will be for you, think dark chocolate covered Brazil nuts and stick your nose up at the Quality Street. Be a chocolate snob, invest in quality rather than quantity. Learn how to make healthy Christmas treats HERE.
- Drink Alcohol – but in moderation, the more you drink the more weight you will put on and the worse you will feel and the more you will want to eat! If you want to STOP or manage your drinking habit then I can highly recommend Melanie Flower.
- Party – yes dance your socks off, shake those hips, move your body! And DO NOT stop your exercise classes – plan them in to your week!
- Sleep – get enough sleep, insufficient sleep will make you crave sugar and stimulants.
- Have fun – the more you laugh the more you engage your tummy muscles. Yes, laughing is practically a gym workout!
- Walk – walk as much as you can, just 30 minutes 3 times a week has been shown to encourage weight loss. Boxing day is a great day for a walk!
- Supplements – add in some support for the richer foods and increase in alcohol you are going to consume. Include milk thistle for the liver, vitamin C for the immune system, probiotics and digestive enzymes for the gut.
Healthy Christmas Treats Workshop
Learn how to make delicious, indulgent and yet healthy Christmas treats to enjoy guilt free during the festive period or as a lovely homemade gift. Perfect for those friends and family members with allergies or intolerances. I will be welcoming you to my home where you will be fully involved in making, baking and tasting a whole range of super healthy yummy Christmas treats.
It’s worth coming just for the smell!!!
You will also get to take home some of your treats as well as all the recipes.
The Workshops will be held in Whitstable.
Come and join the fun. Spaces are very limited. All workshops SOLD OUT quickly last year so make sure you grab your place!
Click HERE for more information.
Something to ponder….
Just like us, not all food is created equal, so what exactly is junk food?
Fish and chips, pizza, burgers, kebabs, white bread, sugar, cakes, refined sugary cereals, alcohol, fizzy drinks, sweets, crisps, chocolate bars and most ready meals; essentially they provide your body with negligible amounts of nutrients and can actually be detrimental to your health.
More than 3,000 additives are allowed for use in food processing, but no-one yet knows the effects of consuming a chemical cocktail on a daily, lifelong basis. The occasional indulgence will not plunge a healthy person into poor health, but the problem occurs when these foods are consumed on a regular basis, forming a large part of the staple diet. It’s not unusual for at least one of these food groups to be consumed every single day without the benefits of whole foods to reduce the ill-effects.
What are the dangers of eating junk?
These foods can contribute to:
- Weight gain, cravings and bingeing
- Digestive problems; constipation, diarrhoea, bloating, cramping
- Low energy, poor sleep and low libido
- Poor concentration, mood swings
- Premature ageing, poor skin tone, hair and nails
- Weakened immune system
- Degenerative diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and arthritis
Packaged and convenience foods often have higher levels of fats, salt and sugar and contain many obscure ingredients that wouldn’t be found in the kitchen cupboard. They may prove to be convenient but they should not form part of your everyday eating as there are many healthy nutritious foods that are very quick and simple to prepare.
What’s the alternative?
Whole foods: These are foods as close as possible to their natural state with the minimum added or taken away. Choosing these foods means they are likely to have a higher nutrient and fibre content without the chemical additives that processing can include.
With a little planning and organisation healthy eating needn’t be a chore.
To be the first to know about my nutrition programmes, join my FREE facebook group here.